"PETA can kiss my shiny metal ass!"
Posted on 12/16/2005 4:23:55 PM PST by qam1
It's not the rabbit fur of the '60s or the big brushed pelts of the '70s and '80s.
But fur is back.
Just look at Canadian actor William Shatner.
The Fur Council of Canada says the industry set records last year with $2 billion in sales across North America.
Fur has become the new mark of cool.
And the one demographic that's pushing the trends is twenty- and thirtysomethings.
The people who follow the likes of P.Diddy and other hip-hop artists who have pushed fashion tastes toward beaver, or mink in a sheared look.
Alan Herscovici, the council's executive director, said the industry has been hard at work countering criticism about trapping from animal rights activists. But it's the new fashionability - not acceptance of the industry - that is driving sales.
"A few things have happened over the years but there's a new generation of young designers who are reinterpreting fur."
Herscovici said fur sales have increased about 25 per cent since 2000, and most of that growth is rooted in younger, fashion-forward shoppers.
Betty Balaila, executive director of Zuki Internationale, a leading Canadian fur designer, said more than half the customers are now under 45.
Teresa Eloy, communications director for the council, said women favour the short look to their new furs - a design she said isn't necessarily warm but popular.
Paul Kindy, who co-owns the century-old Kindy Furs in Selkirk, says that isn't necessarily his experience, but he agreed fur sales are strong. He said the industry was due for another upswing anyway.
"I understand it's the rappers who have brought attention back to fur. I'm 65 and I don't follow that, but I'm happy to see it," he said. "What brought the fur business back to its feet in the '60s were rabbit furs, which women wore over tight mini-skirts. It's time there was another resurgence."
Herscovici said the council has responded to consumer concerns about the ethics of the industry by arguing it is better for the environment than synthetics, which are generally made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource.
He also says the industry supports the efforts of about 60,000 trappers, many of whom are aboriginals in Canada.
"Trade is extremely well regulated, no endangered species are used and we support research to ensure excellent animal welfare standards."
Herscovici is passionate in his argument that, by using sustainable trapping and farming methods, the industry is providing employment and protection of habitats for many species.
"We are trying to tell our side of the story. Having said that, I feel it's the fashion that's driving it. People want to be reassured so they don't feel guilty about it."
It's not just younger consumers. Fur has gone mainstream, if the Chrysler TV ad with William Shatner in a fur coat is a sign.
The council says sales to men jumped 8 per cent last winter in North America.
Steve Konstantinidis, at Nadel Furs, said he has sold a few more furs than usual to men this year, particularly chinchillas.
Eloy said while men aren't necessarily wanting to look like rappers, they are moving to a more stylized, sheared-front look, in lighter tones, such as grey beaver coat.
"It started with hip-hop and now it's trickled down to the street," she said. "It's not the old-style raccoon coat."
Thanks to her handicap, my late first wife had a serious temperature-regulating problem, and the only thing that would keep her warm in the winter was fur.
We tried every natural and man-made substance available, but the only thing that worked was fur.
She wore coats outside, and had a bunny-rabbit blanket for indoors.
I guess it's time to ask for a fur coat again! I have a birthday coming in February---it's the coat or a facelift. I wonder which one he'll go for????????
Before anyone asks, I have skinned many an animal. All for the stewpot.
But if there had been any market for squirrel skins back then I surely would have cashed in.
Idiots who think that meat is murder should be reminded that they ARE meat.
Forget the face-lift, you get the chinchilla, he gets the beaver, it's win-win.
I didn't know Denny Crane was a Canadian. He sure is a conservative!
"This is what happens when you spend all your time chasing chickens." -- Freeper CindyDawg.
LOL CindyDawg.
He always get the beaver and I get gotz!!!!! LOLOLOL
Imagine a huge meat eating Yeti that hates commies. My sign: "I am meat man."
What is this? An inside joke? ;^)
"PETA can kiss my shiny metal ass!"
They don't. You're thinking of Lucy Ricardo.
You don't have to be a PETA freak to find wearing dead animals weird. And I'm so politically incorrect, that I want to take up smoking just for the statement!
Or throw their mantra back in their faces: "Hey, maaaaaaaaaan--don't force your morals on me!"
I have a very pretty full-length leather coat. It's a rusty brown, made of lambskin. My Mom found it for me, second-hand, from a very swanky Madistan shop...that's no longer in business due to the PETA and leftists freaks in this town. I. Love. It. My Mom is a seamstress and worked for Savadusky Furs for a number of years. She'd have me stop by at the end of the business day and we'd play Dress Up with all the furs in storage. Chinchilla, for sure. Best of the best. :)
I've never wanted a new fur, but if I find one that fits me perfectly on the second-hand market, or from some wealthy local woman who's "downsizing," I'll be snatching it up. In high school I had a coat that had a curly lambswool collar. It was like wearing a Poodle around your neck...and it was so warm! I was Thrift Shop before Thrift Shop became cool. ;)
My friend has a full length black mink coat. I think it's that "Blackgama" brand. It is awesome. You just want to pet her whenever she wears it...proudly...while driving her BMW SUV, LOL! You gotta love it. She'd just flick those PETA freaks away like a stray booger, if any dared to bother her; she's got that "I'll Kill You If You Speak To Me," look down cold, LOL!
At last. Something I can do with all those $&#@%$& coyotes running around my house.
Just like smoking.
OMG.....we're talking blood bath there!
Oh no...it must have been your wife who outbid me on that vintage fox parka last week. It went for $96 (a steal)...(And I'm less than 65 :)..
sw
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